Space Station Mir

 Once again, I feel like I've got a lot of reads going at once, for book clubs, pleasure, and learning. I finished more of them in June, and there are a lot that I would recommend, in addition to a few that were just okay or just not for me. Books Read in June 2025 The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop (Book club read)--This was one of the best memoirs I've read in a while. I didn't realize Kelly (formerly Carole) Bishop not only originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line , but "At the Ballet" is based on her real life. I loved learning about her life in show biz, including her time on one of my favorite shows, Gilmore Girls! Family Family by Laurie Frankel (Other book club read)--Interesting perspective on different types of adoptive families. Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us, edited by Colleen Kinder--I was entranced with these letters to strangers from various writers. D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins--I loved...

  The Best Advice by Amy Dressler (Shakespeare Project, Book 2) Publication Date: July 8, 2025 After reading a second book of hers , I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm a fan of Amy Dressler and I look forward to reading more of her books, particularly this Shakespeare retelling series! Her first book, How to Align the Stars,  retells my favorite Shakespeare comedy, Much Ado About Nothing , and The Best Advice  follows up with a retelling of my second favorite Shakespeare comedy, As You Like It.  In both books, Dressler deftly transplants the scenarios and characters of the respective plays to the contemporary Pacific Northwest. However, unlike the most creatively imagined setting for a performance of the original script, Dressler makes the bones her own, sculpting and weaving them into lived-in and relevant characters and settings in a novel for a modern audience, with playful references to the original text (e.g., Phoebe Shepherd-Shepherd) and (mostly) ironing ...

 I missed this topic last week, so this freebie post is my chance to make it up! A lot of mine would probably be the same as Jana's , but I'll try to throw a few different ones in there. It is definitely shaping up to be an outstanding year for the fun, cozy books I'm most drawn to these days! (And I'm clearly not the only one.) I discussed a lot of these in my last post , so I've only added quick descriptors for the ones I didn't. My Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025 Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders, Publication Date: August 19, 2025 All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert, Publication Date: September 9, 2025 The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez, Publication Date: September 9, 2025--"A gorgeous, atmospheric debut fantasy that reimagines the Jewish myth of golem in a tale rooted in history, folklore, and sapphic romance"--Say less! The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah...

Unfortunately, I missed posting yesterday, but I still wanted to get this out. I'm really excited for summer reading this year! I've been on a reading roll lately, and I'm excited about a lot of books that are coming out this summer or summer-related books that are already out. It's also finally time where I can spend a lot of time sitting and reading outside, which I enjoy every summer.  Books On My Summer 2025 To-Read List The Best Advice by Amy Dressler, Publication Date: July 8, 2025--Last year, I reviewed Dressler's Align the Stars , a modern retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, which I enjoyed, and I'm excited to review the eARC for this one ahead of the publication date. I already love its spin on As You Like It. Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders, Publication Date: August 19, 2025--Already preordered this sure to be amazing and poignant book from one of my favorite authors. Might even get an ARC if the stars align. All the Way to the Ri...

For this Top Ten Tuesday' s "Summer Freebie," I'm doing books that make me think of summer, based on cover, title, description, setting, or anything else. Some of these are books I've read and others are on my TBR.  Books That Make Me Think of Summer  Summer Sisters by Judy Blume Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan Camp by L.C. Rosen Well Met by Jen DeLuca The Villa by Rachel Hawkins The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland One Last Summer by Kate Spencer Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez Until Next Summer by Ali Brady

I feel like I did a lot of reading this month. Even though I only finished a few books, I started and continued reading many more. I've been a vociferous and random reader lately--so here's some variety. Books Read in May 2025  Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli--Random library browse find, about a woman who was raised as a social media star, the impact it's had on her, and her quest to save her little sister from the same fate. Tina: The Dog Who Changed the World by Niall Harbison--I've followed Harbison on social media for a while, and I love his stories about his rescue dogs in Thailand, so I was happy to buy the book to support. It's a more long-form version of his online stories, and I really enjoyed the stories about Tina and the other dogs. Funny Story by Emily Henry--Another impulse library grab, because I knew I would enjoy another literary romance from Emily Henry. This one is a really absurd situation--living with the ex-boyfriend of the woman...

A Thorn In Every Heart by Kate King (Enchanted Legacies #1)  Release Date: April 1, 2025 Full Disclosure: I applied and was accepted to receive an eARC for this book, but there was a mix-up and I never got it/never received a response. Recently, I found it on Kindle Unlimited, so that's how I read it. First of all, if you're looking for a heart-pumping, spicy romantasy, this is definitely a great book for you. Second of all, the same thing that got me to pick up the book is probably the main reason I'm not giving it 5 stars: Beauty and the Beast meets Anastasia! I was EXCITED. One of my favorite fairytales and one of my favorite historical mysteries! Yeah...no.  Don't get me wrong. The book is clearly heavily influenced by both Disney films, but as someone who, yes, has seen the Disney films, but also has read other versions of both stories...no. I don't really see a lot of the Anastasia story at all, again, unless, you count select elements of the Disney movie, and...

It was a solid although not spectacular reading month. I fell in love with J. Penner's cozy fantasy series, reading all three that are out now. I also read a couple books that have been on my TBR for years, including one by a woman in translation. I even read a more traditional classic, which I don't do a lot these days! Books Read in April 2025 Well Met by Jen DeLuca--A less famous Maryland renaissance faire gets off to a slow start but loins will burn. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa--An aging math professor's memory lasts only 80 minutes, but he makes a lasting impression on his housekeeper and her son. I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman (Book club read)--A mom and daughter take a curated East Coast college tour. Honestly, skippable. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner (Adenashire #1)--Fantasy British Bake Off. Have I said enough? A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons by J. Penner (Adenashire #2)--Baked goods, tea, and an adorabl...

 What a great Top Ten Tuesday topic! I'm proud to be a Marylander, and we have some excellent authors, past and present. Here's a collection of mostly living authors from my state, including some I actually know! Authors Who Live(d) in Maryland Anne Tyler--The author of The Accidental Tourist  and other quintessential Baltimore novels is one of the first authors I think of. I loved The Accidental Tourist; some of her other books less so, but she's definitely an institution. Edgar Allen Poe--He's so associated with Baltimore that the football team is named after his most famous poem. Probably our most famous local legend. Adrienne Rich--Not as famous as Poe, but definitely well known and one of my favorite poets; I think it's so cool that she's also from Maryland. Ta-Nehisi Coates--I didn't realize he was from Maryland, but he shows up high on a lot of lists; I haven't read him yet, but he's pretty famous. Frederick Douglass--Shamefully, he was ensla...

 My Shakespeare professor once asked us to open our "Complete Works of" tomes and put our finger down randomly on a word. Then, we would write an essay on how that word functioned in a play of our choice. My word was "wish," and it has remained a special word to me ever since. What is the power of a wish? Some characters seem to always succeed in making their wishes come true, while some never do, and some are in between. I've added books that I wish to read someday--we'll see how much of that comes true. So, thank you for letting us choose the word for this Top Ten Tuesday topic over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Books With the Word "Wish" In the Title (That I Wish To Someday Read) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, trans. Danusia Stok (The Witcher #0.5)--Ok, this one I have already read, but I couldn't leave it off! The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer--I was interested in this even before I realized it was written by the ...

I've actually read a few books more recently that have surprised me, mostly in either good or neutral ways. I think I've been jumping into a lot of books (ebooks) based on title and the first page rather than a description, so that's also ended up giving me some surprise about even what genre I'm in!  Books That Surprised Me Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer--I thought this was going to be satirical fantasy, but it turned out to be a full-blown romance, just set in a fantasy world. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J.  Penner--In the vein of much cozy fantasy, I thought this was going to be about a fantasy baking competition (which it was!) and a romance, which...it wasn't really. The romance bit started out sweet but then became very rote--BUT the friendship/fellowship part turned out to be probably the most important of all, in a surprising way, and I loved that, which brought the book up from 4 to 5 out of 5 stars for me. Jane Buehler's Sy...

  Happy Top Ten Tuesday  over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Unpopular bookish opinions--I feel like we've been down this road before ! Do I have any unpopular bookish opinions I haven't already shared? Hi, I'm Miriam, and I hate Mr. Darcy  ( really.  hate . him. ) 😛. Let's see if I can conjure up some unpopular bookish opinions for the 2020s. My Unpopular Bookish Opinions for the 2020s (So Far) I'm not a big fan of enemies to lovers --in fact, it makes me NOT want to read a book (I do anyway sometimes because there are so dang many of them, but fortunately, a lot are mislabeled). I AM a big fan of friends to lovers --these don't seem to be as popular, but I love seeing friendships deepen into relationships, and I think these are a lot more realistic anyway! I'm not a Sarah J. Maas/ACOTAR fan *gasp*--To be fair, ACOTAR is the only one of her books that I've read, so I wouldn't write her off entirely and would maybe try Throne of Glass  or something else...

 Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!  I've included some books I've read recently as well as some books that are on my TBR with covers reminiscent of spring, whether that's pastel colors or a sylvan setting. Something about green trees just says spring to me. We've definitely slipped back into a brief winter here after some lovely springlike days, (and a number of blossoming trees) but hopefully they will return soon. Top Ten Books With Spring-y Covers The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson Who Loves You Best by Marilyn Simon Rothstein The Gargoyle and the Songbird by Cora Crane Party of One by Meghan Keane Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin The Secret Country by Pamela Dean Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper Stay Awhile by Chrissa Rose The Forest Bride by Jane Buehler

For whatever reason, March has been a busy month for me the past several years (except 2020-2021 for obvious reasons). I finished the first two books on a trip I took at the beginning of the month. The rest are all quick or book-club reads crowded in on nights and weekends. This is what's getting me through. Books Read in March 2025  The Fire Apprentice by Jane Buehler (Sylvania #5)-Read my review here . TL: DR; Highly recommend to readers of romance and cozy fantasy! UnSweetined by Jodie Sweetin (Book club read)--Interesting celebrity memoir as someone who grew up watching Full House --this is really more of a confession that Sweetin wrote to keep her honest and accountable about her addiction problems, but I'd recommend it if you similarly are interested in her and Full House.  The Forest Bride by Jane Buehler (Sylvania #1)--Decided to finally read the first book in the cozy fantasy Sylvania series! Just as delightful as all the other ones, with an endearing mix of fantasy ...

 I'm starting this (very) late, so I'm borrowing Jana's exact topic over at That Artsy Reader Girl.  Like Jana, I'm not a huge fan of pranks, but I am a huge fan of books and spring! We are all certainly April's fools now, with the weather we've been having. Top Ten  Five Books You'd Be a Fool Not to Listen to On Audio Born a Crime by Trevor Noah--He narrates it himself, and it is just so laugh out loud funny. If you like his stand-up or are interested in what growing up in South Africa was like, this is a great one. Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield--The narrator is lovely, and the book lends itself to oral storytelling. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss--A lot of songs and the protagonist is so theatrical, the audiobook just makes sense. However, I do generally steer away from epic fantasy on audio and listened to this after I had already read the book, so YMMV. Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper--The author narrates and it makes...

 Happy Spring! I've missed the last few Top Ten Tuesdays , so I'll take the opportunity to share my Spring TBR list here. Per usual, it's books I'm reading for book clubs or just what I'm interested in right now, rather than anything especially seasonal. Although, the birding book I'm reading now does feel apropos, as I hear more birdcalls outside my window, the daffodils and forsythia are blooming, and the cherry blossoms are budding. I feel like a lot of people read specific books in the Fall especially and sometimes for Winter or Summer. Does anyone out there have specific Spring reads? What are you all planning to read for Spring? My Spring 2025 TBR Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper (Book club read)--I'm almost done, and so glad I suggested we read this one! I love the birding parts, and it's more of a memoir than I expected, but fortunately, as a fellow Marvel and Star Trek fan, Cooper ha...

Oof. It has been a month, a year, an eternity. A lot of books I enjoyed this month, thank goodness. And I read straight through into March and already have a couple books done for that month. It has been that kind of a year so far. I enjoyed getting to share a lot of these reads and would love to hear your thoughts if you've read any! Books Read in February 2025  No One Will Save Us: A Reimagining of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Julie L. Brown (received for review from LibraryThing)--I'm so glad I asked to review this because I don't think I ever would have seen it otherwise, and I absolutely loved it. This is the inspiring, educational, and just freaking awesome alternate history we need. The warrior women of Kana (the primary of multiple cultures in what we would call Ghana that Brown brings to life) stop the Atlantic slave trade in its infancy--even traveling to Virginia to bring their people and others back home, and allying with the Powhatans along the way! If you'r...

The Fire Apprentice by Jane Buehler (Sylvania #5)  Release Date: March 18, 2025 I previously reviewed The Village Maid and The Woodland Stranger   for LibraryThing, both of which I loved, especially the latter. When I heard that Jane Buehler had another book coming out in the cozy fantasy romance series set in her bucolic land of Sylvania, I knew I wanted to review it! Sadly, it wasn't on offer from LibraryThing at the time, so I appealed directly to the author, who kindly sent me an eARC (and it sounds like her books will be back on LibraryThing's Early Reviewers soon as well).  Jane, the female protagonist, is a character that was introduced briefly in earlier books. Like all of the books so far, you could read The Fire Apprentice as a standalone and wouldn't miss out on any of the present story. However, if you want a fuller picture of Sylvania, the different human and fairy (and dragon!) cultures, and the interrelationships between the sets of characters in each of ...

 As a huge fan of time travel, books set in the future, and alternate histories, I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic over at That Artsy Reader Girl . I also used to read a lot of historical fiction, but these days I tend to prefer reimaginings, more inclusive historical fiction, or historical fiction fantasy. One of my friends said recently, "I need at least two layers of separation from reality" in her reading life, and my reading lately would tend to concur. Here are some of my recent favorites set in another time--and probably also an alternate timeline! My Top Ten Books Set in Another Time (And Probably Also In An Alternate Timeline) No One Will Save Us by Julie L. Brown--I read this for a LibraryThing review and really loved it! It's a reimagining of the Atlantic slave trade where a group of West African warrior women sail to the New World and rescue the enslaved Africans! Incredibly and vividly imagined characters, scenery, cultures, and plot. The Once and ...

Today's Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl is a "love freebie," so I made up a couple of related prompts that I hope you will find amusing! Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not, I'm wishing everyone some love and lightness right now. It seems like it would be silly, but leaning into romance these past couple years has actually helped me focus on what's important--love, community, and lifting up those around us so that we can be stronger together and literally create a better, kinder world.   Favorite OTPs from Books I Read in the Last 5 Years 1. Zoya/Nikolai from the Grishaverse novels by Leigh Bardugo--These two are so hard-earned. Both characters have been through so much individually and together, and you see how they complement each other both as people and as rulers. Plus, my heart just aches for both of them.  2. Kaz/Inez from the Grishaverse novels by Leigh Bardugo--If you think you're seeing a trend, you are absolutely righ...

 A fresh new year! I've been reading a lot of different books, but not finishing or enjoying as many as I would like. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store , technically my first read of the year, was an exception, but I started that in December. I hope that changes soon. I've got books checked out of the library for four different book clubs, and some of these are books I've wanted to read for years. Of course, as soon as I have them in my possession, I'm less keen. I feel like I should finish the books I'm already reading, or I don't want to start them in case I don't like them as much as I thought I would. Here's to better reading months for the rest of the year! Books Read in January 2025 The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Book club read)--Loved it--I love everything McBride writes--but it was fun to read a book by him with more Jewish characters, and I love how he understands exactly how each ethnic group in this story is oppressed in...

 I discovered a lot of new authors in 2024, mostly thanks to Kindle Unlimited and Stuff-Your-Kindle days and also that I've newly gotten into the genres of romance and romantasy, which has opened up a lot of new authors to me as well. It feels nice to support new authors both as a reader and as a reviewer (and a member of 4-5 book clubs), and I hope I get to do more of it in 2025.  Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! New-To-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024 Megan Van Dyke--I started seeing her posts on Instagram probably sometime in 2023, and I finally read Captive of the Stolen Empire in early 2024, and then I was hooked. I love her standalones, fairytale retellings, and fae realm books--she does lush worldbuilding, intense characters, and spicy romance. I plan to keep reading books as long as she keeps writing them! Allie Lasky--I found her by searching for Hanukkah romances on Kindle Unlimited. Her characters are Gen Z and very alternative, but she delivered...

 Most of the books I buy these days are ebooks, or books I'm technically "renting" (I guess that's the right term?) on Kindle Unlimited. I also get a few ebooks for review, usually from LibraryThing or directly from authors. Mostly I get books from the library, but I also try to buy/preorder from my favorite authors--sometimes ebooks or sometimes an actual book if I don't have a signed copy from that author yet! Here are the most recent books I've either bought or rented (TBR would be a whole other list!). Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection Everlasting Spring: 101 Poems for Every Season of Life by Sonya Matejko (Ebook for review from LibraryThing) Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawagachi (Kindle Unlimited) Spark by Allie Lasky (Kindle Unlimited) The Hannukah Hook-Up by Jessica Topper (Kindle Unlimited) Hooked by M.C. Frank (Kindle Unlimited) A Dance of Blood and Destiny by K.R.S. ...

 I posted my Bookish and Not So Bookish Goals for 2024  last year. I accomplished a lot of them! First, I'll review how I did on my goals from 2024, and then I'll share my goals for 2025. Bookish Goals for 2024 Read 42 books--I again wanted to go a little easy on myself, but feeling up to this since my goal last year was 36 and I read 48. Well, I read 90 books in 2024, mission accomplished! Read 11 (25%) books by authors of color, from this specific list (below)--I haven't been doing well with this goal in the past, so instead of the more vague "25%" goal, I'm defining 25% of my reading goal and actually creating a list of books I want to read that fit this criteria to choose from. If you're interested, my list below includes books that have been on my TBR awhile, including some literally on my shelves. I read 13 books by authors of color, some of which were from the included list but most were not.  Read and review all the books I've accepted for revi...

 I never got around to this survey in 2023, but unexpectedly, in 2024, I had the most prolific reading year of my adult life (checking back, I did read 89 books in 2019). Honestly, I would guess it's both because I was missing a personal laptop for parts of the year and also because there were a few weeks or months when I went mostly off social media. I'm going to enjoy basking in this glow because I don't know if it will ever happen again!  I also met most of my bookish goals for 2024 (more on that later), but for now I'd like to share the stats from the survey I've been using for over a decade (I think?!), which I modified from the discontinued book blog,  Boston Bibliophile . 2024 Reading Stats How many books read? 90 Fiction/nonfiction? 78 fiction, 8 nonfiction, 4 poetry Female/male/nonbinary author ratio? 74 female, 13 male, 1 collection with writers of multiple genders, and 1 unknown Writers of Color/Minority Writers? 13 books by writers of color, 14 Jewish wr...